When you started your business, you looked forward to the day that you were busy enough to need to hire an employee. This would mean business is booming and the money is rolling in. Now that this day has come, you feel a little differently about the situation. You obviously cannot do it all, but how will you find someone you can count on to be trustworthy and work hard? After all, your business and reputation are on the line. Utilizing the hiring hints below will help to sway the odds in your favor.
Conduct a job analysis. Your first step should be to determine the knowledge, skills, abilities, and duties required to successfully complete this job opening. Putting these details into a written job description will benefit both the employer and the candidates.
Recruit wisely. Recruiting can be done through a variety of formats including social media, newspapers, internet job boards, public and private agencies, labor organizations, networking, referrals and by word of mouth. Consider the cost and number of candidates you might receive from each before spending any money.
Consider diversity. Having a diverse team of employees leads to greater creativity, increased opportunities, and preventing discrimination suits.
Screen applications and resumes. Blanks on the application tells hiring managers that the candidate may be trying to hide something negative about their work history or that they were just too lazy to fill out the paperwork. Resume typos show the candidate may not pay enough attention to detail. Many HR professionals use these errors as a method for minimizing the candidate pool when they have several qualified candidates to choose from.
Confirm gaps in employment and reasons for leaving previous jobs. Determining the reason for gaps and/ or leaving previous positions can tell you plenty of information about a candidate. Weigh these reasons with what you value most.
Ask behavioral interview questions. Behavioral type interview questions will determine what a candidate did or would have done, if they came across the situation presented in the question. If the response you receive is what you would have done or expected from the candidate, that is a great sign!
Avoid questions with regard to protected classes. Questions that will indicate a person’s age, religion, marital status, race or other protected class should be avoided to prevent discrimination claims.
Conduct at least two interviews for each of the finalists. It’s always a good sign when two or more supervisors feel good about a candidate. If a top manager is torn between two or more candidates this is especially helpful.
Check references. Reference checking is not always possible. Some organizations will only confirm dates, titles, and/or salary to avoid defamation lawsuits. When companies do give performance information, weigh it carefully since it may be subjective.
Consider cultural fit. Try to determine if the candidate will “fit in” with the current group of employees. For instance, if they prefer to work on their own and your company works in teams, they may not be the best person for the job.
Conduct pre-employment testing. An organization may want to consider pre-hire testing, such as background checks or drug screens, if drug use or criminal activities may impact business outcomes in a negative way. Just be sure all testing is relevant, reliable, and valid.
Be consistent. It is considered discriminatory to only ask certain candidates to take tests, or to make certain practices required by some candidates and not others.
The truth is many of us will make a poor hiring decision at some point in our lives. Those who consistently utilize the practices above should find those poor decisions fewer and farther between.
Read: 5 Ways To Avoid Costly Hiring Mistakes